Laura Ashley's home 'to be opened to public by National Trust'

Laura Ashley fans could be able to see where it all began after the National
Trust began talks to buy out her Victorian mansion in Powys, Wales.

By Sarah Knapton

4:22PM BST 17 May 2009

Ashley's eldest daughter Jane wants to sell Rhydoldog House and its 700 acre estate to the Trust because the family is struggling to meet costs and wants to open the site to visitors.

"The home and countryside are what inspired my mother," Jane said.

"The house is a bit shabby but that's part of its charm.

"The trust likes the idea that it still feels like a living and breathing place."

Ashley's designs became an essential for the aspirational middle-classes in the 1970s and 80s with her traditional and conservative appeal offering an instant ticket to country living.

Her daughter's are hoping members of the public will be able to see how the house and surrounding countryside inspired Ashley.

Many of the rooms have remained unchanged since she died in 1985 and are full of her original designs in furniture and upholstery.

The walls are covered in her own wallpapers including a two flower print from the mid-70s.

As well as displaying the designer's private rooms, there will be a craft centre in the house to teach textile-making, quilting and screen-printing – the techniques used by the company until the 1990s.

For many years Ashley used the home as a workplace and studio as well as the family home after moving from her original base in Pimlico, London.

"The fact that the business was built in this house over decades is what makes it special," said Jane.

"A lot of the interiors are perfectly preserved and you can see how the style evolved as you walk around.

"You have to be very wealthy to afford a second home of that size. I'm on a sort of rescue operation to save it."

If bought, Rhydoldog will join properties including the Liverpool home of Sir Paul McCartney; Agatha Christie's house in Devon; and George Bernard Shaw's home in Hertfordshire.

The National Trust and the National Museum of Wales are likely to pay for restoration and maintenance while seeking a private investor to buy the property for an estimated £1m-£3m.

The trust said it was "working with the family looking at different options".

Restoration work is expected to cost millions of pounds but the family is hoping the house will open to the public by 2011.